City official calls for police review board

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, August 25, 2009

By CHASE WRIGHT

Times Staff Writer

STAMFORD -- An outspoken city official is calling on Stamford's top governing body to enact legislation that would establish a citizen review board to deal with complaints made against the police department.

In a letter sent to Board of Representatives President David Martin, Board of Finance member Joseph Tarzia requests the 19th District representative spearhead the initiative.

"We need to provide our police officers with the support they need in order to properly perform their job," Tarzia writes in a later dated Aug. 24.

"At the same time, we also need to protect our citizens from possible abuses and other inappropriate actions committed by the few."

Tarzia said he's been thinking about requesting a review board for months, but complaints from his constituents and local media coverage on alleged police abuse prompted him to shepherd the initiative.

"I'm really surprised that no other elected officials have taken any action on this matter," Tarzia said. "I finally said, 'I'm going to step up to the plate.'"

City Rep. Philip Berns, D-16, has also been an outspoken critic of officers mistreating the public while on the job. A member of the Public Safety & Health Committee, Berns called the initiative "long overdue."

Martin also said he's in favor of citizen review and plans to put the issue on the agenda for the Board of Representatives' next Steering Committee.

The Public Safety & Health Committee, which is headed by city Rep. Richard Lyons, D-1, would be in charge of investigating the possibility of another review board to deal with citizen complaints made against the police department, he said.

Though he thanked Tarzia for his bold action, Martin questioned whether establishing a citizen review board was possible under charter rules. It may infringe on the police union's contract with the city, he said.

"What I'm thinking is this might be something that is handled by an administration, or the mayor, rather than through legislation," he said.

Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, president of the police union, said legislation to review and act on complaints made against the department would have to be negotiated at the contract table.

He added that a civilian committee already exists to deal with other complaints.

The Police Commission is made up of five civilian members -- three Democrats and two Republicans -- who meet monthly to discuss issues related to the Stamford Police Department.

In dealing with complaints, the Police Commission only acts on appeals, after the incident has been investigated and the police chief decides how the matter will be handled, Kennedy said.

"The process we have in place to deal with complaints works," he said. "If a member of the public wants to make an anonymous complaint, all they have to do is call the chief directly and he handles it."

Most complaints are made in person at police headquarters, and are usually taken by the supervisor of the accused officer, Kennedy said.

"What I do is I'll ask the person directly, 'how do you want this rectified?" he said. "If I get no resolve, it's taken up to internal affairs."

Tarzia said he envisions police handling the complaint before the citizen review board takes up the matter, as is the case now. In some situations, however, the citizen review board could act as liaison between the police department and a member of the public, who wishes to make a complaint but remain anonymous.

A third-party mediator doesn't exist to function in that capacity, Tarzia said.

Kennedy said, under Tarzia's plan, the Police Commission and the citizen review committee would be acting on the same matters.

"I'm not too worried about this issue," Kennedy said. "We already have civilians involved in the process."